American Short Fiction

Black Girl Magic. It is a term that is used a lot these days. It’s probably politically incorrect when I use it. But the truth is the truth. I have been attracted to black women since I was a teenager. Several circumstances have gotten in the way of me acting out my attraction: societal standards. Racist relatives. Fear. My wife. The list goes on. But now, I’m not willing to circumvent those attractions anymore. I am a deacon at a prominent church in the South. It’s a new day and age but interracial relationships are still pretty taboo, particularly when it comes to sex. I have ...

This is a short story prequel to the full length novel "Embracing the Darkness" by Renee Tarot. One Night Can Change Everything Nevayah Wilson is ready to embrace all that Yale has to offer—new experiences, new friendships, and maybe even love. When she meets DeMarco Thomas, a confident and ambitious business student, their connection is undeniable. His touch lingers, his words ignite something deep inside her, and for the first time in a long time, she feels like she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. But fate has other plans. After a night that should have been ordinary, everything ...

El 26 de octubre de 1949 el reportero Gabriel García Márquez fue enviado al antiguo convento de Santa Clara, que iba a ser demolido para edificar sobre él un hotel de cinco estrellas, a presenciar el vaciado de las criptas funerarias y a cubrir la noticia. Se exhumaron los restos de un virrey del Perú y su amante secreta, un obispo, varias abadesas, un bachiller de artes y una marquesa.

For Jack Cho, a fortysomething gay man, being able to marry someone he loves is so unfamiliar it’s terrifying. Then a wedding invitation from a college friend brings about a collision with those fears--and his own secret history. Jack and his new boyfriend, Caleb, are attending the wedding of Jack’s estranged straight friend Scott. No sooner do the guests start to mingle than questions arise

What happens when everything around you seems perfect - your family, your health, your social status, your overall life - but all of a sudden something threatens to tear it all apart and rob you of what you've always known? This type of thing happens to many people, every day, from all walks of life. Some are able to get over it and go on with their lives. But others are not so fortunate. They find themselves stuck in their own meltdown of loss, hurt, and pain. Such is the situation in Marita L. Kinney's latest novel.

A finalist for the National Book Award, Lost in the City features 15 poignant short stories, each set in Washington, D.C. Far removed from marble monuments and the offices of rich politicians, the nation's capital that Jones captures is inhabited by self-willed African-Americans struggling to live their lives as best they can.

This collection is full of gritty stories of strong, spirited women who deal with everything from homicide and drugs to all sorts of turmoil - all while showing the men of the streets of Brooklyn that they are not afraid of anything. Perhaps the edgiest of all the Girls from da Hood books, this drama-filled installment follows a drug-fueled crime operation, which could put the girls and their extravagant lifestyles in permanent danger. But these girls from da hood are trying to find a way out of their troubles, by any means necessary.

In the city of Houston - a sprawling, diverse microcosm of America - the son of a black mother and a Latino father is coming of age. He's working at his family's restaurant, weathering his brother's blows, resenting his older sister's absence - and discovering he likes boys.

Millie Two Bears lives alone in a trailer in the heart of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. Since her husband went to jail, she’s been on the outs with the reservation. And it’s not just people she has to contend with. Now the prairie dogs are moving in on her patch of land. When a strange woman comes into Millie’s life, and Millie’s rodent war escalates, a fateful confrontation with vengeance, secrets, and survival is just underfoot.

This magical realist short tale was inspired by the Latin American myth of El Sombrerón, the nighttime guardian of peace and justice. El Sombrerón arrives in a sleepy town to find that a young girl has stolen a golden necklace. El Sombrerón must convince the girl to return the necklace so she can avoid El Sombrerón’s justice…and before the sun rises.

Queen is a young woman living by her own rules. But she has things that she would like to change. One is her circumstances and the other is her relationship with her abusive boyfriend Ness. She thinks that she will never be able to fully be rid of him, until she meets Logan. Logan introduces her to a world that she always knew she was meant for. Even though the way there isn't exactly legal. Queen learns the game quickly and starts to live up to her given name. "Careful how you play your cards when you have a queen in your hand."- Queen

This anthology edited by the American writer, philosopher, and patron of the arts Alain Locke brings together some of the most influential pieces of African American works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring the voices of Zora Neale Thurston, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Langston Hughes, Locke included commentary on the emergence of the New Negro Movement, also known as the Harlem Renaissance. The New Negro is considered to be the definitive text on the movement.

Henry Dumas' fiction is a masterful synthesis of myth and religion, culture and nature, mask and identity. From the Deep South to the simmering streets of Harlem, his characters embark on surreal and mythic quests armed only with wit, words, and wisdom. Championed by Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, and Quincy Troupe, Dumas' books have long been out of print. All of his short fiction is collected here, for the first time, and includes several previously unpublished stories.

With heart-stopping stories by Zane, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Joy M. Copeland, Robert Fleming, Terence Taylor, Francine Lewis, Brandon Massey, and 12 other established or up-and-coming writers, Dark Dreams is a must-have contemporary anthology for fans of the supernatural.

Knight Miller and Exotic Wright aren’t strangers to one another. After being in LA for ten years Exotic decides to come home just in time for Christmas. What she didn’t expect was to run into the one and only, Knight Miller. He had grown into a sexy man who had her thinking of explicit Christmas Pleasures. ​When Knight lays eyes on Exotic after ten long years the night before Christmas at a crowded downtown bar, he knows he has to have her. After a few drinks and small talk the two embark on a world of pleasure that will leave them both yearning for more. Secrets and drama swarm ...

Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York’s gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places. From a powerful response to hateful bullying, to a fight for health care, to a gripping desperation to vote, these stories are equal parts shocking, devastating, and enthralling, revealing the tension pulsing through our everyday lives and affirming that mystery and suspense writing is better than ever before.

Absolution was written by USA Today Bestselling Author Reana Malori... Julian Saving lives is his calling, or so he thought. When doing what he loves turns into his greatest fear, the lines between black and white turn gray. A little boy who needs to be saved, and a beautiful mother he can’t stay away from, bring him back from the darkness. Life and death are a part of his daily life, but Julian must find his own road to Absolution before he loses the one person he never realized he needed. Kori Raising her son was her only focus. When their lives are shattered by a devastating event, she...

In the series of linked stories at the heart of Filthy Animals, set among young creatives in the American Midwest, a young man treads delicate emotional waters as he navigates a series of sexually fraught encounters with two dancers in an open relationship, forcing him to weigh his vulnerabilities against his loneliness.

Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and featuring some of the most acclaimed best-selling black authors writing for teens today - Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America. A selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List.

Take a ride down Route 66 in a '55 Crown Vic. Shield your nose and eyes from the dust as Okies leave for California. Drink strong coffee in an all-night diner. Hear a haunting train whistle in Gallup, New Mexico. Investigate a death on old 66. Take a last ride on a faithful Apaloosa and watch the sunset over a majestic saquero cactus. Feel Andy Payne's pain as he pounds the road to New York. Lost on Route 66 is an anthology of essays and short stories about the fabled highway that is filled with mystery, suspense, adventure and humor. Don't miss it.